Compositional variations of tungsten tetraboride with transition metals and light elements

ABSTRACT

A composition includes tungsten (W); at least one element selected form the group of elements consisting of boron (B), beryllium (Be) and silicon (Si); and at least one element selected from the group of elements consisting of titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru), hafnium (Hf), tantalum (Ta), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), lithium (Li) and aluminum (Al). The composition satisfies the formula W 1-x M x X y  wherein X is one of B, Be and Si; M is at least one of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Li and Al; x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.999; and y is at least 4.0. A tool is made from or coated with this composition.

CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/478,276 filed Apr. 22, 2011, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

This invention was made with U.S. Government support under Grant No.0805357 and 1106364 awarded by the National Science Foundation. The U.S.Government has certain rights in this invention.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of Invention

The field of the currently claimed embodiments of this invention relatesto compositions of matter and articles of manufacture that use thecompositions, and more particularly to compositional variations oftungsten tetraboride and articles of manufacture that use thecompositional variations of tungsten boride.

2. Discussion of Related Art

In many manufacturing processes, materials must be cut, formed, ordrilled and their surfaces protected with wear-resistant coatings.Diamond has traditionally been the material of choice for theseapplications, due to its superior mechanical properties, e.g.hardness >70 GPa (1, 2). However, diamond is rare in nature anddifficult to synthesize artificially due to the need for a combinationof high temperature and high pressure conditions. Industrialapplications of diamond are thus generally limited by cost. Moreover,diamond is not a good option for high-speed cutting of ferrous alloysdue to its graphitization on the material's surface and formation ofbrittle carbides, which leads to poor cutting performance (3). Otherhard or superhard (hardness ≥40 GPa) substitutes for diamond includecompounds of light elements such as cubic boron nitride (4) and BC₂N (5)or transition metals combined with light elements such as WC (6), HfN(7) and TiN (8). Although the compounds of the first group (C, B or N)possess high hardness, their synthesis requires high pressure and hightemperature and is thus non-trivial (9, 10). On the other hand, most ofthe compounds of the second group (transition metal-light elements) arenot superhard although their synthesis is more straightforward.

To overcome the shortcomings of diamond and its substitutes, we havebeen pursuing the synthesis of dense transition metal borides, whichcombine high hardness with synthetic conditions that do not require highpressure (11, 12). For example, arc melting and metathesis reactionshave been used to synthesize the transition metal diborides OsB₂ (13,14), RuB₂ (15) and ReB₂ (16-20). Among these, rhenium diboride (ReB₂)with a hardness of ˜48 GPa under a load of 0.49 N has proven to be thehardest (16, 21). The boron atoms are needed to build the strongcovalent metal-boron and boron-boron bonds that are responsible for thehigh hardness of these materials (12). Because of this, it is expectedthat by increasing the concentration of boron in these types oflattices, the hardness could increase. Most transition metals, however,form compounds with low boron content. Tungsten is one of the fewtransition metals that is known for its ability to form higher boroncontent borides. In addition to tungsten diboride (WB₂), which is notsuperhard (22, 23), tungsten is able to form tungsten tetraboride (WB₄),the highest boride of tungsten that exists under equilibrium conditions(24-26). Advantages of this material over other borides are: i) bothtungsten and boron are relatively inexpensive, ii) the lower metalcontent in the higher borides reduces the overall cost of productionsince the more costly transition metal is being replaced by lessexpensive boron thus reducing the cost per unit volume and iii) thehigher boron content lowers the overall density of the structure, whichcould be beneficial in applications where lighter weight is an asset.

Tungsten tetraboride was originally synthesized in 11966 (24) and itsstructure assigned to a hexagonal lattice (space group: P6₃/mmc). Thepossibility of high hardness in this material was first suggested byBrazhkin et at. (27) and we discussed its potential applications as asuperhard material in a Science Perspective in 2005 (12). Recently, Guet al. (28) reported hardness values of 46 and 31.8 GPa under appliedloads of 0.49 and 4.9 N, respectively, and a bulk modulus of 200-304 GPawithout giving any synthetic details or even presenting an X-raydiffraction pattern. Since superhard materials have shown a largeload-dependant hardness (13, 16), commonly referred to as the“indentation size effect”, reporting a single hardness value for thesematerials is insufficient and suggests that a more detailed study isneeded. Therefore, here we examine the hardness of tungsten tetraborideusing micro- and nano-indentation. Furthermore, with a valence electrondensity of 0.485 e⁻ Å⁻³ (11), which is comparable to that of ReB₂ (0.47e⁻ Å⁻³), the bulk modulus of 200-304 GPa reported by Gu et al. for thismaterial seems low compared to other superhard transition metal boridessuch as ReB₂, with a bulk modulus of 360 GPa (16), and thereforerequires further investigation. Since the purity of superhard materialsdirectly influences their mechanical properties (29), the existence ofother borides of tungsten in the samples might explain the anomalouslylow bulk modulus. Making solid ingots of phase pure WB₄ is especiallychallenging since the tungsten-boron phase diagram indicates that WB₂ isthermodynamically favorable with any W:B molar ratio below 1:12 (24).There thus remains a need for improved hard materials and articles thatuse the improved materials.

SUMMARY

A composition according to some embodiments of the current inventionincludes tungsten (W); at least one element selected form the group ofelements consisting of boron (B), beryllium (Be) and silicon (Si); andat least one element selected from the group of elements consisting oftitanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe),cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr),niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru), hafnium (Hf), tantalum(Ta), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), lithium (Li) and aluminum(Al). The composition satisfies the formula

W_(1-x)M_(x)X_(y)

wherein X is one of B, Be and Si; M is at least one of Ti, V, Cr, Mn,Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Li and Al; x isat least 0.001 and less than 0.999; and y is at least 4.0.

A tool according to some embodiments of the current invention includes asurface for cutting or abrading. The surface is a surface of acomposition of matter that includes tungsten (W); at least one elementselected form the group of elements consisting of boron (B), beryllium(Be) and silicon (Si); and at least one element selected from the groupof elements consisting of titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr),manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc(Zn), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru),hafnium (Hf), tantalum (Ta), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir),lithium (Li) and aluminum (Al). The composition satisfies the formula

W_(1-x)M_(x)X_(y)

wherein X is one of B, Be and Si; M is at least one of Ti, V, Cr, Mn,Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Li and Al; x isat least 0.001 and less than 0.999; and y is at least 4.0.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objectives and advantages will become apparent from aconsideration of the description, drawings, and examples.

FIG. 1 shows an X-ray diffraction pattern of tungsten tetraboride (WB₄)synthesized via arc melting. The stick pattern given below is from theJoint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS, Ref. Code:00-019-1373) for WB₄. The corresponding Miller Index is given above eachpeak.

FIG. 2 provides measured Vickers micro-indentation hardness of tungstentetraboride under loads ranging from 0.49 N (low load) to 4.9 N (highload). The corresponding hardness values range from 43.3 GPa to 28.1 GPaat low and high loads, respectively, indicating a clear indentation sizeeffect (ISE). Typical optical images of the impressions made at high andlow loads are shown.

FIG. 3 shows a typical load-displacement plot obtained fromnano-indentation on a tungsten tetraboride ingot. From the loading andunloading curves, nano-indentation hardness values of 40.4 GPa and 36.1GPa are calculated at indentation depths of 250 nm and 1000 nm,respectively. The corresponding Young's modulus is ˜553 GPa. The depthof penetration of the indenter is 1000 nm. The arrows show the locationsof small pop-in events that may be due to a burst of dislocations,cracking or elastic-plastic deformation transitions.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the crystal structure of tungstentetraboride with boron bonds shown as a guide. The top layer consists ofboron hexagonal planes repeated alternatively. The structure can beviewed as alternating boron and tungsten layers cemented together withboron dimer (B₂) bonds. The high hardness of WB₄ may be attributed tothe short boron dimer bonds and the three-dimensional framework of boronconnecting the dimers to the boron hexagonal network in the a-b planes.

FIG. 5 shows fractional changes in volume (V/V₀) as a function ofpressure for tungsten tetraboride. Fitting the data with a second-orderBirch-Murnaghan equation of state (Eq. 5) results in a zero-pressurebulk modulus of 341 GPa.

FIG. 6 shows micro-indentation hardness data for tungsten/rhenium boridesamples as a function of rhenium content. Data were collected forsamples with Re additions of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 10.0,20.0, 30.0, 40.0 and 50.0 at. %. The low-load hardness increases from43.3 GPa for WB₄ to a maximum of ˜50 GPa at 1 at. % Re, decreases to aminimum of 29 GPa at 20 at. % Re and then increases again up to 34 at. %Re. Similar trends are observed for all of the loads (0.49 N-4.9 N).

FIG. 7 shows X-ray diffraction patterns for tungsten tetraboride (toppattern) and various Re additions (0.5-50.0 at. %). The rectangle andarrows are to guide the eyes, showing the appearance of and drasticchanges in the intensity of the major peak of the Re_(x)W_(1-x)B₂ solidsolution phase (bottom pattern). These changes help to explain thechanges in hardness observed in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8A shows thermal stability of tungsten tetraboride (WB₄) andWB₄+Re_(x)W_(1-x)B₂ (containing 1 at. % Re) as measured by thermalgravimetric analysis.

FIG. 8B shows DTG curves corresponding to FIG. 8A. These curves indicatethat both materials are thermally stable up to 400° C. in air. Theweight gain of about 30-40% for both samples above 400° C. can be mainlyattributed to the oxidation of tungsten to WO₃.

FIG. 9 shows micro-indentation hardness data for tungsten/rhenium boridesamples as a function of tantalum content. Data were collected forsamples with Ta additions of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 10.0,20.0, 30.0, 40.0 and 50.0 at. %. The low-load hardness increases from43.3 GPa for WB₄ to a maximum of ˜52 GPa at 2 at. % Ta, decreases to aminimum of 44 GPa at 5 at. % Ta and then increases again up to 46 GPa at40 at. % Ta. Similar trends are observed for all of the loads (0.49N-4.9 N).

FIG. 10 shows micro-indentation hardness data for tungsten/rheniumboride samples as a function of manganese content. Data were collectedfor samples with Mn additions of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0,10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0 and 50.0 at. %. The low-load hardness increasesfrom 43.3 GPa for WB₄ to a maximum of ˜53 GPa at 4 at. % Mn, decreasesto a minimum of 47 GPa at 5 at. % Mn and then increases again up to ˜55GPa at 20 at. % Mn. Similar trends are observed for all of the loads(0.49 N-4.9 N).

FIG. 11 shows micro-indentation hardness data for tungsten/rheniumboride samples as a function of chromium content. Data were collectedfor samples with Cr additions of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0,10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0 and 50.0 at. %. The low-load hardness increasesfrom 43.3 GPa for WB₄ to a maximum of ˜53 GPa at 10 at. % Cr, decreasesto a minimum of 40 GPa at 20 at. % Cr and then increases again up to 48GPa at 40 at. % Cr. Similar trends are observed for all of the loads(0.49 N-4.9 N).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the current invention are discussed in detail below.In describing embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sakeof clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific terminology so selected. A person skilled in the relevant artwill recognize that other equivalent components can be employed andother methods developed without departing from the broad concepts of thecurrent invention. All references cited anywhere in this specification,including the Background and Detailed Description sections, areincorporated by reference as if each had been individually incorporated.

Some embodiments of this invention are related to the hardnessimprovement of tungsten tetraboride (WB₄) by substituting variousconcentrations (partial or complete) of tungsten and/or boron withtransition metals and light elements, respectively. The increase ofhardness, due to solid solution, grain boundary dispersion andprecipitation hardening mechanisms can lead to the production of machinetools with enhanced life time according to some embodiments of thecurrent invention. The developed materials, both in bulk and thin filmconditions, can be used in a variety of applications including drillbits, saw blades, lathe inserts and extrusion dies as well as punchesfor cup, tube and wire drawing processes according to some embodimentsof the current invention.

The existing state-of-the-art in the area of transition metal-boridesincludes the solid-state synthesis and characterization of osmium andruthenium diboride compounds (Kaner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,308;Cumberland et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 7264-7265; Weinbergeret al., Mater., 2009, 21, 1915-1921), rhenium diboride (Chung et al.,Science, 2007, 316, 436-439; Levine et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008,130, 16953-16958) and tungsten diboride (Munro, J. Res. Natl. Inst.Stan., 2000, 105, 709-720). The concept of high hardness of tungstentetraboride (WB₄), which contains more boron-boron bonds compared toaforementioned superhard diborides, was first introduced by Brazhkin etal. (Philos. Mag. A, 2002, 82, 231-253) and its application as asuperhard material was discussed in our Science Perspective in 2005(Kaner et al., Science, 2005, 308, 1268-1269). While several attemptshave been made to synthesize the phase pure of this superhard material(Gu et al., Adv. Mater., 2008, 20, 3620-3626), there have been noreports, to our knowledge, on improving the hardness of this inexpensivesuperhard material.

We have been successful in developing new superhard materials based ontungsten tetraboride by replacing tungsten with other transition metalssuch as rhenium according to some embodiments of the current invention.In addition to being inexpensive and possessing metallic conductivity,the developed materials exhibit improved Vickers hardness to well above50 GPa, which is by far higher than the hardness of WB₄ (˜43 GPa).

Compositional variations of WB₄ can be synthesized by replacing W withother metals (such as Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru,Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Li and Al) and/or B with light elements (such as Beand Si) according to some embodiments of the current invention. Purepowders of these elements, with a desired stoichiometry, arc groundtogether using an agate mortar and pestle until a uniform mixture isachieved. In the case of WB₄ compounds, a tungsten to boron ratio of1:12 should be used. The excess boron is needed to compensate for itsevaporation during synthesis and to ensure the thermodynamic stabilityof the WB₄ structure based on the binary phase diagram of thetungsten-boron system. Each mixture is pressed into a pellet by means ofa hydraulic (Carver) press. The pellets are then placed in an arcmelting furnace and an AC/DC current of >60 Amps is applied underhigh-purity argon at ambient pressure. Other synthesis techniquesincluding hot press and spark plasma sintering can also be used. To makethin films of these materials, various deposition techniques such assputtering, pack cementation, etc. can be used.

The implementation of these compounds in practice can require some minortechnical adjustments and their adaptation to industrial scale. Forexample, using powerful presses to press big pellets and big arc meltingfurnaces to arc large pellets is needed for some applications. In thecase of using sintering methods to synthesize the specimens, appropriatelarge-scale hot press or SPS machines and well-designed dies for thespecific geometries of the products (inserts, drill bits, dies, etc.)may be required. Since most of these compounds arc electricallyconductive, to minimize the production time electro discharge machines(EDMs) can also be very beneficial for cutting, drilling, finishing andother post-synthesis processes necessary for the fabrication of theproducts made of these superhard materials according to some embodimentsof the current invention. To add ductility to the products, adding Co,Ni, or Cu or a combination of these three elements can be useful. Forthin film applications of these materials, hi-tech thin film depositionsystems may be needed.

In some examples, we have successfully synthesized and characterizedvarious concentrations of Re in WB₄, i.e. W_(1-x)Re_(x)B₄ (x=0.005-0.5).Our experiments show that substitution of 1 at. % W with Re increasesthe Vickers hardness of WB₄ from ˜43 GPa to ˜50 GPa under an appliedload of 0.49 N. This compound is thermally stable in air up to 400° C.We have also synthesized various stoichiometries of WB₄ with Ta, Mo, Mnand Cr, the observed hardness results of some of the compounds of whichare well above 50 GPa. For example, we have measured Vickers hardnessvalues (under an applied load of 0.49 N) of 52.8, 53.7 and 53.5 GPa when˜2.0, 4.0 and 10.0 at. % of W in WB₄ are replaced with Ta, Mn and Cr,respectively (FIGS. 9-11). Also, by taking advantage of these results,we have synthesized ternary/quaternary solid solutions of WB₄ withcombinations of these three elements by keeping the concentration of Tain WB₄ fixed at 2.0 at. % while varying those of Mn and Cr from 2.0 to10.0 at. %. This led to hardness (at 0.49 N) values as high as 55.8 and57.3 GPa for the combinations W_(0.94)Ta_(0.02)Mn_(0.04)B₄ andW_(0.93)Ta_(0.02)Cr_(0.05)B₄, respectively. We have demonstrated thatWB₄ can be easily cut using an EDM machine, due to its superiorelectrical conductivity. The cut sample by EDM can be used to test themachining performance of our materials. The ductility of these compoundsmay be improved by adding Co, Ni or Cu to them.

More generally, a composition according to an embodiment of the currentinvention includes tungsten (W); at least one element selected from thegroup of elements consisting of boron (B), beryllium (Be) and silicon(Si); and at least one element selected from the group of elementsconsisting of titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese(Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn),zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru), hafnium(Hf), tantalum (Ta), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), lithium(Li) and aluminum (Al). The composition satisfies the formula

W_(1-x)M_(x)X_(y)

wherein X is one of B, Be and Si; M is at least one of Ti, V, Cr, Mn,Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Hf, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Li and Al; x isat least 0.001 and less than 0.999, and y has a value of at least 4.0.In some embodiments, X is B. In further embodiments, M can be two ormore of the above listed elements such that the combined fraction of thetwo or more elements relative to W is x. In some embodiments, M is oneof Re, Ta, Mn, Cr, Ta and Mn, or Ta and Cr. In further embodiments, X isB and M is one of Re, Ta, Mn, Cr, Ta and Mn, or Ta and Cr

In some embodiments, x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.6. In someembodiments, X is B, M is Re, and x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.1.In further embodiments, X is B, M is Re, and x is about 0.01. The term“about” means to within ±10%. In further embodiments, M is one of Re,Ta, Mn, Cr, Ta and Mn, or Ta and Cr. In further embodiments, X is B andM is one of Re, Ta, Mn, Cr, Ta and Mn, or Ta and Cr. In furtherembodiments, X is B, M is Ta, and x is at least 0.001 and less than0.05, or x is about 0.02. In further embodiments, X is B, M is Mn, and xis at least 0.001 and less than 0.4. In further embodiments, X is B, Mis Cr, and x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.6.

In some embodiments, the composition consists essentially of W, Re andB, and x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.1. In further embodiments,the composition consists essentially of W, Re and B, and x is about0.01.

Tools according to some embodiments of the current invention can have atleast a cutting or abrading surface made from any of the compositionsaccording to embodiments of the current invention. For example, a toolcan have a film or coating of the above-noted compositions according toembodiments of the current invention. In other embodiments, a tool canbe made from and/or include a component made from the above-notedcompositions according to embodiments of the current invention. Forexample, drill bits, blades, dies, etc. can be either coated or madefrom the above-noted materials according to embodiments of the currentinvention. However, tools and tool components are not limited to theseexamples. In other embodiments, a powder or granular form of theabove-noted materials can be provided either alone or attached to abacking structure to provide an abrading function. The compositionsaccording to the current invention can be used in applications toreplace currently used hard materials, such as tungsten carbide, forexample. In some embodiments, the above-noted materials can be used as aprotective surface coating to provide wear resistance and resistance toabrasion or other damage, for example.

The following examples are provided to help explain further concepts anddetails of some embodiments of the current invention. Some particularapplications are also described. However, the general concepts of thecurrent invention are not limited to the particular applications andexamples.

EXAMPLES

FIG. 1 displays the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of a tungstentetraboride (WB₄) sample synthesized by arc melting. The XRD patternmatches very well with the reference data available for this material inthe Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS) database(24). The WB₄ pattern clearly shows that no impurity phases, such astungsten diboride (WB₂ with major peaks at 2θ=25.683°, 34.680° and35.275°), are present. The purity was confirmed using energy-dispersiveX-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The sample does, however, contain someamorphous boron, which cannot be observed using XRD.

Once phase pure WB₄ ingots were obtained by arc melting followed bycutting and polishing, Vickers micro-indentation hardness testing wascarried out on optically-flat samples with the results depicted in FIG.2. Hardness values of 43.3±2.9 GPa under an applied load of 0.49 N (lowload) and 28.1±1.4 GPa under an applied load of 4.9 N (high load) weremeasured for pure tungsten tetraboride. While there are no theoreticalor experimental data in the literature for medium loads (2.94, 1.96 and0.98 N), the low-load hardness value of 43.3 GPa is very close to atheoretical prediction of 41.1-42.2 GPa (32) and both low-load andhigh-load hardness values are a bit lower than the experimental valuesof 46.2 GPa and 31.8 GPa, respectively, reported by Gu et al. (28).Moreover, the load-dependant hardness, commonly known as the indentationsize effect (33) as seen in FIG. 2, has been observed with several othersuperhard materials as well (14, 16). This behavior has been attributedto the role of friction in indentation (34) and the recovery of theelastic component of deformation after unloading, which is prevalent insmaller indents, as well as the material's intrinsic response todifferent loads (35, 36). In addition, nanoindentation hardness valuesof 40.4±1.2 GPa (at a penetration depth of 250 nm) and 36.1±0.6 GPa (ata penetration depth of 1000 nm) were measured for WB₄ from theload-displacement curves, a typical one of which is presented in FIG. 3.The small pop-in events, observed in this Figure, may be due to a burstof dislocations, elastic-plastic deformation transitions or initiationand propagation of cracks (15). From this test, we estimate an elastic(Young's) modulus of 553±14 GPa for WB₄. The discrepancy between thehardness data obtained from microindentation and nanoindentation can beattributed to the differences in the geometry and shape of theindenters, depth of penetration of the indenters and hardnessmeasurement methods (11). These high hardness values, regardless of themethod of measurement, indicate that WB₄, within experimental errors, issimilar in hardness to rhenium diboride, which possessesmicroindentation and nanoindentation hardness values of 48.0±5.6 GPa and39.5±2.5 GPa, respectively (16, 19). This is very encouragingconsidering that tungsten is much less expensive than rhenium. Note alsothat the hardness of WB₄ is considerably higher than that of OsB₂ andRuB₂ (15) and at least 1.5 times that of the traditional material usedfor machine tools, tungsten carbide (37-39). The high hardness of WB₄may be associated with its unique crystal structure consisting of athree-dimensional network of boron with tungsten atoms sitting in thevoids (FIG. 4). The short bonds of the boron-boron dimers (1.698 Å) andtheir connections to the boron hexagonal planes above and below likelycontribute to the high hardness of this material (28, 32). Sincesuperhard materials usually possess a high bulk modulus, high pressureX-ray diffraction was used to measure the bulk modulus of WB₄, followingthe procedure explained in the Experimental Section along with Equations5 and 6. The study of the incompressibility of this material underhydrostatic pressure resulted in a zero-pressure bulk modulus, B₀, of341±2 GPa using a second order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. If thethird order Birch-Murnaghan equation is used, the resulting bulk modulusis 330±12 GPa with a first derivative (B₀′) of 5.1 (FIG. 5). Thesevalues are close to the predicted value (292.7-324.3 GPa) and about 11%higher than the bulk modulus of 304 GPa previously reported for thismaterial (28, 32). The theoretical and experimental bulk modulus valuesboth exceed 185-224 GPa for pure boron (40) and 308 GPa for puretungsten (27).

Once the properties of WB₄ were well characterized, the possibility ofincreasing its hardness was investigated by adding rhenium to WB₄ in anattempt to make solid solutions. Compositions of the samples wereconfirmed with EDX. The micro-indentation hardness data for thesecompounds are plotted in FIG. 6. The hardness under low load (0.49 N)increases from 43.3 GPa for WB₄ to a maximum of 49.8 GPa for 1 at. % Readdition. It then decreases to about 29 GPa for 20 at. % Re andincreases again to 34 GPa for 50 at. % Re. Similar trends are seen forloads of 0.98, 1.96, 2.9 and 4.9 N.

The XRD patterns for all these compounds are presented in FIG. 7 inorder to follow the structural transitions. In this Figure, the toppattern belongs to WB₄ with no Re addition, while the bottom patternwith a W:Re ratio of 1:1 matches the ReB₂ pattern (JCPDS # 00-011-0581).However, since the peaks of the pattern of this compound are shiftedwith respect to those of pure ReB₂, this material appears to be a solidsolution of ReB₂ with W, i.e. Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂. On the other hand, noshifts are observed in the peaks of WB₄ with the addition of Re,indicating that W_(x)Re_(1-x)B₄ solid solutions do not form under thesesynthetic conditions. By following the major peak of the Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂solid solution (the 101) from top to bottom, as highlighted inside thedotted rectangle, it is clear that this peak begins to appear at 0.5 at.% Re addition and increases substantially at 10 at. % Re.

Based on the rhenium-boron binary phase diagram, it appears that theRe_(1-x)W_(x)B₂ phase should precipitate from the melt first. If this isthe case, it could serve as nucleation sites for WB₄ formation,resulting in Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂ grains dispersed in a WB₄ majority phase.At low Re concentration, these Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂ grains could preventdislocations slip and make a harder material. This trend is indeedobserved with the compound containing 1 at. % Re being the hardest (˜50GPa). The overall decrease in hardness at Re concentrations larger than10 at. % can be attributed to the development of bulk Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂domains, leading to a decrease in the overall concentration of WB₄ and alarge increase in the proportion of amorphous boron. The slight increasein hardness for 40 and 50 at. % Re may be attributed to a change instoichiometry of the Re_(1-x)W_(x)B₂ phase toward a more Re-richcomposition.

While the precise mechanism for the increased hardness by the additionof Re is not yet understood in detail, it is important to note that themeasured nano-indentation hardness values for the compound of 1 at. % Rein WB₄ are 42.5±1.0 GPa and 37.3±0.4 GPa at penetration depths of 250and 1000 nm, respectively, demonstrating that this material is harderthan pure WB₄ (40.4 and 36.1 GPa) or ReB₂ (39.5 and 37.0 GPa) at thesame penetration depths (16, 19). The elastic modulus of WB₄ containing1 at. % Re is estimated to be 597±33 GPa using Equations 3 and 4. Thisvalue is higher than those of RuB₂ (366 GPa), OsB₂ (410 GPa) and WB₄(553 GPa), but lower than the value of 712 GPa reported for ReB₂ (15).

In addition to mechanical properties, the thermal stability at hightemperatures is important if these materials are to be considered forapplications such as high-speed machining or cutting. Thermal stabilitycurves on heating both tungsten tetraboride and tungsten tetraboridewith 1 at. % Re are shown in FIG. 8. Both compounds are stable in air upto ˜400° C. The weight gain above 400° C. in both compounds can beattributed to the formation of WO₃, as confirmed by powder X-raydiffraction.

In conclusion, tungsten tetraboride is an interesting material with aVickers indentation hardness of 43.3±2.9 GPa, a bulk modulus of 341±2GPa as measured by high pressure X-ray diffraction and a calculatedYoung's modulus of 553±14 GPa. The high hardness of tungsten tetraboride(43.3 GPa) categorizes this material among other superhard materials.The two benefits of this compound, facile synthesis at ambient pressureand relatively low cost elements, make it a potential candidate toreplace other conventional hard and superhard materials in cutting andmachining applications. By adding 1 at. % Re to WB₄, a hardness of ˜50GPa is reached. Powders of tungsten tetraboride with and without 1 at. %Re addition are thermally stable in air up to ˜400° C. as measured bythermal gravimetric analysis. WB₄ and mixtures of WB₄ withRe_(x)W_(1-x)B₂, which contain only small amount of the secondarydispersed solid solution phase, may have potential for use in cutting,forming and drilling or wherever high hardness and wear resistance is achallenge.

Materials and Methods

Powders of pure tungsten (99.9994%, JMC Puratronic, USA) and amorphousboron (99+%, Strem Chemicals, USA) with a ratio of 1:12 were groundtogether using an agate mortar and pestle until a uniform mixture wasachieved. The excess boron is needed to compensate for its evaporationduring arcing and to ensure the thermodynamic stability of the WB₄structure based on the binary phase diagram of the tungsten-boron system(24, 26). Furthermore, to test the possibility of increasing thehardness, rhenium (99.99%, CERAC Inc., USA) was substituted for tungstenat different concentrations of 0.5-50.0 at. %. Each mixture was pressedinto a 350 mg pellet by means of a hydraulic (Carver) press under 10,000lbs of force. The pellets were then placed in an arc melting furnace andan AC current of >70 Amps was applied under high-purity argon at ambientpressure. The synthesized ingots were cut in half using a diamond saw(South Bay Technology Inc., USA). One-half of the ingot was crushed toform a fine powder using a hardened-steel mortar. The powder was usedfor X-ray powder diffraction as well as high-pressure and thermalstability studies. The other half of the ingot was cold mounted inepoxy, using a resin/hardener set (Allied High Tech Products Inc., USA)and polished to an optically-flat surface for hardness testing.Polishing was performed with a tripod polisher (South Bay TechnologyInc., USA) using polishing papers (120-1200 grits, Allied High TechProducts Inc., USA) followed by diamond films (30-0.5 microns, South BayTechnology Inc., USA).

The purity and composition of the samples were examined using X-raypowder diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).Powder samples from crushing the ingots were tested for phase purity byemploying an X'Pert Pro™ X-ray powder diffraction system (PANalytical,Netherlands). This test is critical as it determines the existence ofother common low-hardness impurities, such as WB₂, in the synthesizedsamples. As X-ray diffraction only gives information about the phasepurity of the sample and does not provide elemental analysis, energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to check the composition ofthe synthesized materials. This was accomplished by scanning the flat,polished samples using an EDAX detector installed on a JEOL JSM 6700 Fscanning electron microscope (SEM).

The mechanical properties of the samples were investigated usingmicro-indentation, nano-indentation and high pressure X-ray diffraction.To measure the Vickers micro-indentation hardness of the compounds, theoptically-flat polished samples were indented using a MicroMet® 2103micro-hardness tester (Buehler Ltd., USA) with a pyramid diamond tip.With a dwell time of 15 seconds, the indentation was carried out under 5different loads ranging from 4.9 N (high load) to 0.49 N (low load).Under each load, the surface was indented at 15 randomly-chosen spots toensure very accurate hardness measurements. The lengths of the diagonalsof the indents were then measured with a high-resolution Zeiss Axiotech®100 HD optical microscope (Carl Zeiss Vision GmbH, Germany) and thefollowing equation was used to obtain Vickers microindentation hardnessvalues (H_(v)):

H _(v)=1854.4P/d ²  (1)

where P is the applied load (in N) and d is the arithmetic mean of thediagonals of the indent (in micrometers).

Nano-indentation hardness testing was also performed on the polishedsamples by employing an MTS Nano Indenter XP instrument (MTS, USA) witha Berkovich diamond tip. After calibration of the indenter with astandard silica block, the samples were carefully indented at 20randomly-chosen points. The indenter was set to indent the surface to adepth of 1000 nm and then retract. From the load-displacement curves forloading and unloading, both nano-indentation hardness of the materialand an estimate of its Young's (elastic) modulus are achieved based onthe method originally developed by Oliver and Pharr (41) using Equations2 and 3:

H=P _(max) /A  (2)

where H, P_(max) and A are nanoindentation hardness, peak indentationload and projected area of the hardness impression, respectively, and

1/E _(r)=(1−v ²)/E+(1−v _(i) ²)/E _(i)  (3)

where E and v are the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of thematerial and E_(i) and v_(i) are the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratioof the indenter, respectively. The reduced modulus (E_(r)) can becalculated from the elastic stiffness (S), as follows:

S=dp/dh=(2/√π)E _(r) √A  (4)

where p and h are load and depth of penetration, respectively, and dp/dhis the tangent to the unloading curve at the maximum (peak) load. Sincethe Poisson's ratio of WB₄ with and without Re is not yet known, anapproximate value of 0.18 (calculated for ReB₂) was used to determinethe Young's modulus (15). The reported modulus values are, therefore,estimates.

The compressibility of WB₄ was measured using high-pressure X-raydiffraction in a Diacell diamond anvil cell with neon gas as thepressure medium. Diffraction patterns were collected for the powdersamples from ambient pressure to 30 GPa on Beamline 12.2.2 at theAdvanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL,USA). The data were fitted using either a second-order (Equation 5) or athird-order (Equation 6) Birch-Murnaghan equation of state to calculateboth the zero-pressure bulk modulus (B₀) and its derivative with respectto pressure (B₀′).

P=(3/2)B ₀[(V/V ₀)^(−7/3)−(V/V ₀)^(−5/3)]  (5)

P=(3/2)B ₀[(V/V ₀)^(−7/3)−(V/V ₀)^(−5/3)]×{1−(3/4)(4−B ₀′)[(V/V₀)^(−2/3)−1]}  (6)

Thermal stability of the powder samples was studied in air using a PyrisDiamond thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyzer module (TG-DTA,Perkin Elmer Instruments, USA). Samples were heated up to 200° C. at arate of 20° C./min and soaked at this temperature for 10 minutes toremove water vapor. They were then heated up to a 1000° C. at a rate of2° C./min and held at this temperature for 120 minutes. The samples werethen air cooled at a rate of 5° C./min. X-ray diffraction was carriedout on the powders after cooling to determine the resulting phases.

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The embodiments illustrated and discussed in this specification areintended only to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use theinvention. In describing embodiments of the invention, specificterminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the inventionis not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected.The above-described embodiments of the invention may be modified orvaried, without departing from the invention, as appreciated by thoseskilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore tobe understood that, within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents, the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically described.

1.-23. (canceled)
 24. A method for preparing a composition comprising:tungsten (W); at least one element selected from the group of elementsconsisting of boron (B), beryllium (Be) and silicon (Si); and at leastone element selected from the group of elements consisting of titanium(Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt(Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb),molybdenum (Mo), ruthenium (Ru), hafnium (Hf), tantalum (Ta), osmium(Os), iridium (Ir), lithium (Li) and aluminum (Al); wherein saidcomposition satisfies the formula:W_(1-x)M_(x)X_(y) wherein X is at least one of B, Be and Si; M is atleast one of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Hf, Ta,Os, Ir, Li and Al; x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.999; and y is atleast 4.0; the method comprising: a) mixing together elemental powdersof W, X, and M to form a mixture; b) optionally pressing the mixtureinto a pellet; and c) heating the mixture or pellet.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein X is B.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein M is oneof Ta, Mn, Cr, Ta and Mn, or Ta and Cr.
 27. The method of claim 24,wherein x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.6.
 28. The method of claim24, wherein X is B, M is Ta, and x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.05.29. The method of claim 24, wherein X is B, M is Mn, and x is at least0.001 and less than 0.4.
 30. The method of claim 24, wherein X is B, Mis Cr, and x is at least 0.001 and less than 0.6.
 31. The method ofclaim 24, wherein mixing occurs under an inert atmosphere deficient inwater, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.
 32. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the elements are mixed using a mortar and pestle or amechanical mixer.
 33. The method of claim 24, wherein the mixture ispressed into a pellet using a hydraulic press.
 34. The method of claim24, wherein the mixture is pressed into a pellet and heated using a hotpress.
 35. The method of claim 24, wherein the mixture or pellet isheated by plasma spark sintering.
 36. The method of claim 24, whereinthe mixture or pellet is heated in an arc melting furnace.
 37. Themethod of claim 36, wherein a current is applied across the mixture orpellet, wherein said current is an AC/DC current greater than 60 Amps.38. The method of claim 24, wherein the mixture or pellet is heated inan inert atmosphere deficient in water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, andcarbon monoxide.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the mixture orpellet is heated in an argon or dinitrogen atmosphere.
 40. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the composition is a crystalline solid characterizedby at least one X-ray diffraction pattern reflection at 2theta=24.2±0.2.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the crystallinesolid is further characterized by at least one X-ray diffraction patternreflection at 2 theta=34.5±0.2 or 45.1±0.2.
 42. The method of claim 40,wherein the crystalline solid is further characterized by at least oneX-ray diffraction pattern reflection at 2 theta=47.5±0.2, 61.8±0.2,69.2±0.2, 69.4±0.2, 79.7±0.2, 89.9±0.2, or 110.2±0.2.
 43. The method ofclaim 40, wherein the crystalline solid is further characterized by atleast five X-ray diffraction pattern reflections at 2 theta=28.1±0.2,34.5±0.2, 42.5±0.2, 45.1±0.2, 47.5±0.2, 55.9±0.2, 61.8±0.2, 69.2±0.2,69.4±0.2, 79.7±0.2, 89.9±0.2, or 110.2±0.2.